Amanda Gorman‘s star continues to rise, even mothns after her introduction to the world in January during President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The national youth poet laureate is gracing the cover of Vogue’s May edition. Well, actually, she’s gracing two Vogue May covers while her interview appears in the iconic magazine’s pages. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the newly turned 23-year-old donned two different looks for alternate covers of the magazine. Her outfits came by way of Dior Haute Couture and a Louis Vuitton Kente gown designed by Virgil Abloh, a designer of Ghanaian descent.
It’s yet another milestone for Gorman, who noted on Instagram that she was “the first poet ever” to appear on Vogue’s cover.
“I am eternally grateful and do not expect to be the last,” posted Gorman on Instagram about the fact that she is the first poet to appear on a Vogue cover, adding “for what is poetry if not beauty?”
Since reading her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Gorman has been interviewed by former first lady Michelle Obama, performed at the Super Bowl, and signed a contract with IMG Models. Moreover, Gorman’s two books, “The Hill We Climb: Poems” and “Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem,” have become national bestsellers.
Gorman told Vogue she’s incredibly grateful to have been so well received. “It took so much labor, not only on behalf of me, but also of my family and of my village, to get here,” she said.
The Los Angeles born poet said she’s turned down an estimated $17 million in endorsement offers, choosing instead to partnerships only if they align with her long-term goals, including a 2036 presidential run, and just as importantly, as long as those endorsement offers don’t “tokenize” her Black identity.
“I don’t want it to be something that becomes a cage, where to be a successful Black girl, you have to be Amanda Gorman and go to Harvard. I want someone to eventually disrupt the model I have established.”
-HuffPost Black Voices
